A/N: Well here's 8. Starts darker, ends like old times. I wrote this on Christmas Eve at a party when I was bored. Hehe. About my typos I'm sorry! I really am! Damn spell check. And I don't like proofreading all my stuff, I think it's boring, but I'll try to now, promise! Sorry I took so long to do this Cortex took a while to check it, and I was out of town, sorry! I have nine and half of ten written.

Thanks to my two Beta Readers: Professor Cortex and Professor Hullabub!

Disclaimer: Plot's mine, anything you don't know or think is in the HP books is mine. Everything else is JKR's.

Chapter 8: Dancing in Dreams

She and Draco were dancing in a white room. It was like they were dancing on clouds because the ground was white also.

Draco stopped and pulled away. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Get away mudblood filth." He snarled like his old self, "You're not wanted anymore. Not like you were in the first place."

"What do you—"

But she couldn't say more because a black mist enveloped her and left only a small window. Through it she saw Draco turn around and walk away. He started to kiss Pansy passionately.

"You can't do this to my Malfoy! No! You can't rip out my heart like that! Malfoy!" she screamed and tried to struggle against the mist. It whispered in a deathly voice, "Mudblood…you're not wanted…filth…scum…" It seemed to swallow her up and pull her down…down…down…

"No! Malfoy!" Hermione screamed and shot up.

She had just woken up in cold sweat and tears. There were makeup stains and smudges all down her cheeks. She looked around and saw Draco looking at her. She was on the couch in their common room and he was kneeling on the floor. "Are you OK? You were crying and thrashing about."

She looked at his worried face and flung her arms around his neck. She sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. She held him like a life raft and if she let go, she'd be swallowed by the mist. He stroked her hair and whispered, "It's OK. Just a nightmare."

"But you…we were…then you…called me a…walked away…mist. Kissed Pansy!!" she let out another wave of tears and clung onto his harder.

"Hermione listen to me." He pulled her up to look at him. "I won't walk away from you when you need me. Especially for Pansy. And I would never kiss Pansy. Got it?"

She sniffed and asked, "Promise?"

"Promise." And he wiped away her tears.

She clung onto him again. "How did we get here?"

"You fell asleep while we were dancing in the entrance hall. So I carried you up here and watched you sleep. Then you started thrashing and kicking. Then you cried and woke up yelling for…or at…me."

"I dreamt that we were dancing, and then you stopped and said I was a filthy mudblood and you never wanted me. Then there was black mist and you walked away to Pansy. And kissed her, and I was being dragged down. It was so frightening and it felt like you ripped out my heart and just…" she broke down and cried again.

He patted and stroked her back and hair. He carried her onto the couch and sat down next to her. She leaned on him and he put his arm around her shoulders. He kissed her on the forehead and noticed she fell asleep again. Sighing he got up and put one arm under her head and the other under her legs and lifted her up. She groaned and rested her head on his chest. He left the room and walked down to the Hospital Wing.

It was past midnight so everyone was in his or her own common room after the ball. "Malfoy!" someone yelled out.

"Oh no…Stupid idiots." He thought and turned around.

And like expected, there was Harry and Ron running down the marble staircase right up to Draco. "Drop her Draco."

"Yeah I'm just going to drop a sleeping beauty. You're out of your mind Weasley." Draco mocked.

"Then give her here." Said Ron.

"Unless you'd like to carry me too, you're out of luck. 5 feet remember?" Draco smirked.

"What are you doing carrying her?" Harry growled.

"Why Ms. Granger fell asleep in my arms and being a responsible Head Boy, I'm taking her to the Hospital Wing. Got a problem with that Potter?"

"Yeah! Your slimy paws are touching her first of all. And how do we know you won't…do anything to her?"

"You mean rape her, or kill her? I'm not that bad as you think I am. Even ask Herm when you want. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to bring her to a decent bed." And Draco turned and continued to walk.

He didn't care that the two Gryffindor boys were following him.

When he lay her down on her bed in the hospital wing, he turned to the two boys and smirked, "You wouldn't want me to dress her now would you? 'Cause I wouldn't mind you know. Unless you want the honour to yourself Weasley."

Ron tried to launch himself at Draco but Harry held onto the back of his robes. "No you better not touch her. Or we know who to beat the crap out of." And Harry dragged the furious Ron out of the wing. "I don't know how you can put up with them Herm. Good night." Said Draco and he kissed her on the forehead before settling down himself.

~*~

The next morning Hermione woke up. At first she was startled but realized she was in the Hospital Wing. She absentmindedly got up and grabbed a pair of jeans and her robes. She walked over to use the bathroom. Looking at her reflection in the mirror she was so used to seeing Draco next to her. She screamed when seeing he wasn't.

~*~

Draco awoke at the sound of a scream. He looked over to Hermione's bed and he jumped. "She's gone! Oh my God! Oh my God, Hermione!" he yelled out.

~*~

Hermione heard Draco call her name and opened the bathroom door. There he was standing up looking shocked. She sighed a sigh of relief and said, "Oh my goodness. Looks like the potion has worn off. I can finally take a shower without you in the room."

He sighed too, "Yeah and you can finally go back to Potter and Weasley. After all you are fraternizing with the enemy. The amazing trio is back in action." He ran a hand through his ruffled hair.

She nodded and went to the bathroom. She took a quick shower and changed. Quickly drying her hair with a charm, she went outside. Draco was lounging on his bed and looked up. "About time. You're not the only person who needs to take a bath you know." And went to the bathroom.

She quickly gathered her stuff and left the wing.

When Draco came out he didn't see Hermione. "Well you didn't expect her to hang around did you?" said a voice in his head.

~*~

Hermione entered the Great Hall and went over to the Gryffindor table. She stood behind Harry and Ron and said, "Is this seat taken?" They jumped and whipped around in their seats.

"Hermione! Don't do that!" said Ron clutching his chest.

"Go ahead. Sit. So the potion wore off? When?" asked Harry.

"Yup! I dunno when. Sometime last night I think, I was sleeping all night practically." She said and ate some bacon.

Ron and Harry looked at each other. "Last night? You didn't know 'cause you were asleep, but he wasn't. He could've known and…" started Harry.

"Tried to do something. Good thing we were there." Added Ron.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Hermione.

"Last night, after the ball, we saw Draco carrying you. We thought he was going to kidnap you or something. But we followed him." Said Ron.

"But he was going to undress you! Nasty pervert." Growled Harry.

"He what! And I woke up in my dress! Oh! Thanks guys but I'm sure he was kidding." Said Hermione.

"Ok. Let's get going now. Potions is soon." Said Harry looking at the clock.

"Yeah. Potions." Said Hermione, "Potions with Draco." She thought.

Together they all left the hall.

~*~

At the Slytherin table, Draco was being fussed over by none other than Pansy. "Draco!" she squealed when he walked through the doors.

"Oh no…" he thought and walked to the Slytherin table.

Pansy offered her seat since there weren't any other free seats. He sat down but should've known something would happen. "Oof! Pansy!" he grunted.

She had just sat on his lap and started to pet him. "Oh Draco, I missed you so much! It must've been horrible spending two months with a mudblood!"

"Right. It's worse being with you." He thought. "I'm not really hungry. I'll see you later." "Better later than sooner." He added to his thoughts.

He stood up and toppled Pansy forward. Unfortunately for him, she caught him by the front of his robes and he was pulled down. "Oh Draco…" Pansy cooed and was about to kiss him. He froze but regained himself quickly and let her go. She fell on the table with a clatter. "Don't do that again." He snarled.

He walked to the dungeons and saw the trio there already. He leaned against a wall and watched them. Hermione was smiling and laughing. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her happy face. "She was never that happy with me." He thought.

Everyone started to come down now and he just walked into the room. Hermione sat down next to him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her in the eye. "Hi Draco." She said smiling.

"Hi Granger." He said, still not looking at her.

The class went by rather quickly and they all left. In the Charms classroom Hermione couldn't concentrate on the lesson. "That's what I get for trying to make conversation. Hi Granger, that's all. He's back to calling me Granger. Typical. Why do I care if he ignored me? Must be some side effect of the potion."

In Prof. Binns's class, Draco couldn't concentrate either. "Why couldn't I look at her? Because she's beautiful. No! Damn potion side effects. Oh who am I kidding, it's not the same without her."

~ End of Chapter 8 ~

A/N. *Snore* I didn't like writing that chapter. It was boring and it stunk. Don't worry, the next one, more stuff happens. I was having writers block while writing this one. Bye!

**Icy Stormz**